Mexico's electoral court rejected some of the left-wing candidate's legal challenges to last month's disputed presidential vote on Monday as it began a long session to rule on his allegations of massive fraud. The court's seven judges were widely expected to reject most of the fraud claims and confirm the victory of conservative ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon. In a long statement read out by a court official, the judges quickly dismissed some of the 240 separate complaints lodged by leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. But they did not immediately say whether Calderon's razor-thin victory in the July 2 vote would stand, and it was still possible that they would accept some of Lopez Obrador's allegations. The court session, broadcast live on television, could last for several hours. Lopez Obrador says there were serious irregularities at more than half the polling stations. He has demanded a full recount of all 41 million votes cast and has launched street protests ... http://abcnews.go.com

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with a Hezbollah Cabinet minister on Monday, in the first direct contact with the guerrilla group during his Lebanon visit, a Lebanese government official said. The U.N. chief met with Mohammed Fneish, Lebanon's minister of hydraulic resources, at the main government building. They were joined by Geir Pedersen, Annan's special representative for Lebanon. Fneish, a senior member of Hezbollah's political wing, is one of two Hezbollah ministers in Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s Cabinet. Annan is in Lebanon to consolidate a U.N.-brokered cease-fire. Annan, trying to turn a shaky truce between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas into a lasting cease-fire, is expected to face Lebanese demands for the removal of an Israeli air and sea blockade of Lebanon. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14552166/

At least 11 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed in heavy fighting in the island's northeast Monday, official sources said, as Tiger rebels claimed that 20 civilians died in army artillery strikes.Military and medical sources said another 79 soldiers were wounded in heavy artillery exchanges in the district of Trincomalee, where troops were trying to push back Tiger artillery guns.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said 20 civilians were killed and another 26 wounded in air and artillery attacks."Twenty civilians have died so far and 26 have been injured," the LTTE said in a statement. It did not say if the Tigers suffered casualties in the latest fighting.The military casualties were taken to three hospitals in Trincomalee district as well as neighboring Polonnaruwa district, doctors said, adding that most of the victims had shrapnel wounds....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-08-28-sri-lanka_x.htm?csp=34

Somali banking company al-Barakat says all its international representatives have been taken off a US terror list. Al-Barakat, known for cheap overseas money transfers, was a mainstay of the Somali economy until a 2001 clampdown. But al-Barakat will still not be able to operate, as about $9m of funds are still being blocked by the US. The owner of al-Barakat, Ahmed Nur Ali Jimaale, told the BBC that his representative in Sweden had been the last to be taken off the list. This has been confirmed by the Swedish foreign ministry, which said it made representations to Washington. Mr Ahmed Nur appealed to the US to release the blocked funds, saying the action was hurting some of Somalia's poorest people, and had cost the company about $30m. When it was operational, al-Barakat operated in 40 countries and transferred up to $140m a ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5292750.stm

Their confidence shaken by Katrina, most Americans don't believe the nation is ready for another major disaster, a new AP-Ipsos poll finds. Poor people are more likely to fear becoming victims of the next disaster. The survey, conducted one year after the devastating hurricane and with much of New Orleans still in shambles, found diminishing faith in the government's ability to deal with emergencies. It also gave President Bush poor marks for his handling of the storm's aftermath. The region could get an eerily timed test of preparedness with forecasters concerned that a storm system named Ernesto could be at hurricane strength as it crosses over Cuba and heads across the Florida Keys this week. Fifty-seven percent in the poll said they felt at least somewhat strongly the country was ill-prepared up from 44 percent in the days after the storm slammed ashore on Aug. 29, 2005. Just one in three Americans polled believe Bush did a good job with Katrina, down from 46 percent a year ago...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2365427

An Austrian teenager recovering after spending eight years in an underground cell is grieving for her captor. Natascha Kampusch, 18, said Wolfgang Priklopil was "part of my life, that's why in a certain way I'm mourning him". He killed himself by jumping in front of a train after her escape last week. It is still unclear why he abducted her as she was on her way to school. "Give me time until I can tell my story myself," Ms Kampusch said in her first statement read by her psychiatrist. She said she understood the media "curiosity" about her life with the kidnapper, but insisted that she would not answer intimate questions. "Maybe I'll tell a therapist one day or someone else when I feel the need to. Or maybe never. The intimacy only belongs to me." Ms Kampusch said she and Priklopil had eaten meals and watched television together, and had jointly done the housework. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5292102.stm